Spanish Language Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for students, teachers, and linguists wanting to discuss the finer points of the Spanish language. It's 100% free, no registration required.

Great answer. But I thought Eso was that in Spanish. Why does it mean It here?
–
0x499602D2Apr 6 '14 at 18:51

Adriano Varoli Piazza, great answer, as I cannot comment yet, to 0x499602d2's comment, I'll try to explain in this answer(if any mod see this, convert it to a comment) Eso is both, a thing you are referring to, "IT" has no gender, 'he, she, it' would be 'El, Ella, Eso (or Neutral)', having this, then you could point something and refer to it as 'Eso'
–
PonchoApr 6 '14 at 18:59

"Eso" can mean both "that" and "it". "That" can also be translated as "aquello". In any case, "It speaks Spanish" and "That means Spanish" mean both basically the same: something speaks Spanish.
–
Adriano Varoli PiazzaApr 6 '14 at 19:04

In spanish "it" is usually implied. So you could translate "It speaks spanish" to "Habla español". On the other hand "eso" means "that" and "esto" means "this", but there is no direct translation for "it". It is either implied or you just mention the subject.
–
JensAug 1 '14 at 19:08

"Se Habla Español" is the equivalent of "Spanish Is Spoken."
(*edited to reflect roy.fourson's good explanation on the lack of direct translation)

The fact that it is spoken here is inferred, and therefore it is not necessary to write "Aqui Se Habla Español."

A brief note on usage:

In the USA, "Se Habla Español" ("Spanish Is Spoken Here") is very commonly used. It is most often used in written signs, but rarely in speech. It is considered polite and appropriate for formal business use.

"Hablamos Español" ("We Speak Spanish") is also used, and it is correct. However, it is a slightly more informal way to say it than "Se Habla Español," and therefore in more formal business settings like banking it is not used as often.

Though it is true that the structure of se habla using se before the third person singular of the verb is seen in reflexive constructions, this is not the case in the example that is being discussed here. You wouldn't say El se habla castellano. You would say El habla castellano. He speaks Spanish. The pronoun or particle se has many uses, one of which is with reflexive verbs. In the case where we see se habla castellano This is not considered a reflexive structure but rather the passive voice. The best translation in English is Spanish is Spoken here. This use of se before the third person singular of the verb is very common in Spanish as is the passive voice in English.

"Se habla español" has no direct translation to English because the language differs from Spanish.

"Spanish is spoken" translates literally to "El español es hablado", even though it's not a common phrase.

In Spanish you can conjugate certain verbs without having a subject. For example, "Llueve" is literally translated to "rains", but that's not a correct sentence in English, where you must say "IT rains".

Having said that, "Se habla español" means that someone has the hability to speak Spanish (implicitly: in that store, hospital, etc), but doesn't specify a subject.

Se habla is a verb construction called "reflexive" verbs. It refers to what one does to "oneself." For instance, "vestirse" (in the infinitive) is to dress oneself. So "hablarse" (infinitive) or "se habla (conjugated) español" means, one speaks to each other in Spanish.

A more idiomatic English translation is, "we speak Spanish.

In Spanish, you could say "Hablamos español," but that's not as idiomatic a translaton as "se habla español."